North Winds Inn fire 'surprisingly fast'

The North Winds Inn employee who called 911 when a fire was discovered Sunday says it was an adrenaline-fuelled few minutes getting everyone out.

The fire at the inn, on P.E.I.'s North Shore, destroyed a building that contained some suites and a hall for weddings and meetings.

The fire was discovered about 4 p.m. Thane Parsons said after calling 911 he went back to help guests get out. One couple on the ground floor got out easily, but he had to shout instructions to three people on the upper deck.

"Your adrenaline is going at that point. You're not really used to seeing that every day," said Parsons.

He said he heard one man escaping from the deck suffered burns on his arm.

After checking everyone was out he crossed the road and waited for firefighters to arrive. He said the flames took over the building quickly.

"I couldn't believe how fast it went up," he said.

"It felt like a half an hour to me and the whole building was engulfed. It was surprisingly fast."

100 firefighters respond

Seven stations and about 100 firefighters responded. It took them about two hours to contain the blaze, including hosing down nearby trees to prevent it from spreading.

Firefighting efforts were led by the New GlasgowFire Department.The last fire trucks left the scene at about 10 p.m.

"But we stayed with two members, taking shifts all night with one truck. Just to make sure there were no flare ups," said Capt. Jason Peters.

Thefire began on the outside of the 20-year-old three-storey building,Peters said, and firefighters managed to prevent it from spreading to the other buildings.

"If it would have been in the middle of the night it would have been a whole different story," he said.

For now, the owners of the building are focusing their efforts in finding rooms for those who had bookings from there they plan to rebuild.

The fire marshal's office expects it will be able to determine the cause within a couple of days.

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